Date and venue for June Headington Ward focus meeting announced

NEXT HEADINGTON WARD FOCUS MEETING

The next public meeting for residents who live in Headington Ward will be on

Tuesday 26th June

Headington Baptist Church, Old High Street, Old Headington OX3 9HW

from 6:00-7:30 pm

Ward Focus meetings are run on a drop in and out basis and are free of charge. There is an open session where residents can raise issues of concern. There’s no need to book.

If you would like to contact your Lib Dem city councillors for advice on any issue please contact

  • Altaf on 07931 345554  altaf.khan@oxfordlibdems.org.uk (phone preferred)
  • For county matters please ring Roz Smith on 07584 257156 or email her at roz.smith@oxfordlibdems.org.uk  (phone preferred)

Up and coming events in Oxford

  • Wednesday 30 May, Oxford Playhouse Plays Out Tent, Florence Park, 10 am to 6 pm. A production of One Small Step – which is a show aimed at families. Activities include colouring, reading books, craft activities and learning resources all available on tables in the tent.
  • Friday 1 June, St Andrew’s School Fun Run, Bury Knowle Park, 1 pm to 2 pm. An event which takes place in Bury Knowle Park each year. Runners are the school pupils who walk, jog or run an inner loop of Bury Knowle Park, watched by parents and guided by marshals.
  • Friday 1 June, Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre, Society Café, St Michael’s Street, 7 pm to 9 pm. A reading by Canadian poet Richard Harrison, recent winner of the Governor General’s Award for Poetry.
  • Saturday 2 June, Oxford Pride, city centre, 12 pm to 10.30 pm. A celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer life in Oxfordshire.
  • Saturday 2 June and Sunday 3 June, Headington Festival, Bury Knowle Park, 2 pm Saturday to 5 pm Sunday. A family film performance in the evening in Bury Knowle Park alongside a bar for parents. There will be some low-key child-friendly amusements, stalls and refreshments.
  • Saturday 9 June, Big Green Day Out, Broad Street, 10 am to 5 pm. A day-long family festival celebrating everything green and sustainable in and around Oxford.
  • Saturday 9 June, Children’s Day, Florence Park, 10 am to 4 pm. To celebrate our children in the community – activities for the day include a bouncy castle, sports, face painting and a barbecue.
  • Saturday 9 June, Oxford Parkrun, Cutteslowe Park, 9 am to 10.30 am. The Cutteslowe School Friends are organising and promoting children’s participation in the Oxford Parkrun, a weekly timed run at Cutteslowe Park. The Friends will host fun activities, a raffle, and cake sale at Cutteslowe Pavilion. Register to run and come by the Pavilion for tea and cake.
  • Saturday 9 June, Soulful House Hugs, Bonn Square, 1 pm to 4 pm. Providing soulful house music for the people of Oxford – and free hugs to anyone who wants them.
  • Sunday 10 June, Bubble Rush, Cutteslowe Park, 10 am to 2 pm. Family-friendly charity fun run organised by local charity, Helen and Douglas House.
  • Sunday 10 June, Great Global Greyhound Walk, Cutteslowe Park, 10 am to 11.30 am. An international annual dog-walking event that brings together greyhounds, lurchers, other sighthounds and their owners to raise awareness of the breeds and show the public just what wonderful pets they make.

Message from Ruth Wilkinson re her resignation as Headington Ward councillor

Dear all

I want to thank everyone for the very kind messages of thanks and support you have sent me following my resignation as ward councillor. This means a lot to me and I am deeply grateful.

No-one is irreplaceable and we have a very strong Lib Dem team who intend to continue with Focus leaflets and Ward Focus meetings just as before, indeed one of our local residents and team members is keen to stand. It’s always good to have new input and new ideas.

I shall continue to provide mentoring and support for my replacement when I can, and I hope you will give that person the wonderful support I needed and was given when I first started out!  Fortunately Altaf and Roz are very experienced councillors so the transition should be smooth.

We still have lots of work to do, as your comments at yesterday’s well-attended Ward Focus Meeting attested! It’s not clear yet when the by-election will be held, it will be one of the first three Thursdays in July, depending on availability of polling stations.

Thanks and best wishes.

Ruth

 

Press release 30/5/18

Headington councillor Ruth Wilkinson has stood down for family reasons

Ruth Wilkinson has resigned following ten years as a councillor for Headington ward.

This comes following family pressures that have increased substantially in the past few weeks, requiring Ruth to be away from Oxford much more.

Commenting, Ruth Wilkinson said:

It’s been a huge honour to represent Headington Ward residents and work with them to get things done. I want to thank them for their terrific support over my time as councillor.

I’ve been coping with mounting family pressures but now I’m needed out of Oxford more and more.

I think it’s best for Headington if I make way for an energetic new candidate. My colleagues Altaf-Khan and Roz Smith are brilliant councillors, I know they will continue to work hard for residents.

Andrew Gant, Leader of the Opposition on Oxford City Council and Liberal Democrat councillor, said:

Ruth has been an inspiration and a wonderful colleague. No Councillor has worked harder or with more dedication for the residents of her ward and the city more widely.

I would like to thank Ruth for her ten years of service, and wish her and her family well in the future at this difficult time.

 

Headington Liberal Democrat councillors hold regular public meetings and send out monthly newsletters to residents.

 

 

Notes:

 

Ruth Wilkinson was first elected in 2008 (majority 16), taking over from Stephen Tall.

She was re-elected in 2012 (majority 426) and 2016 (majority 663) https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20046/elections_and_voting/179/election_results

Other councillors serving Headington Ward residents

Cllr Altaf-Khan (re-elected May 2018, majority 636)

County Cllr Roz Smith – Headington & Quarry Division (elected 2017, majority 892)

ENDS

 

Got any questions on planning? Ward Focus meeting tonight!

NEXT HEADINGTON WARD FOCUS MEETING

The next public meeting for residents who live in Headington Ward will be on

Tuesday 29th May

All Saints Church House, New High Street, OX3 7AL

from 6:00-7:00 pm followed by refreshments

Guest speaker: Hayley Jeffery, Team Leader in Planning Development Management at Oxford City Council 

Ward Focus meetings are run on a drop in and out basis and are free of charge. There is an open session where residents can raise issues of concern. There’s no need to book.

If you would like to contact your Lib Dem city councillors for advice on any issue please contact

  • Altaf on 07931 345554  altaf.khan@oxfordlibdems.org.uk (phone preferred)
  • For county matters please ring Roz Smith on 07584 257156 or email her at roz.smith@oxfordlibdems.org.uk  (phone preferred)

Noise complaints

Last year, the City Council received just under a thousand complaints through its out of hours service or online. Add to this several hundred enquiries made by telephone, face to face or as part of general nuisance or anti-social behaviour complaints, and it’s not surprising that noise is the number one cause of complaint.

It has several teams who act on noise complaints:

  • the Business Regulation and Miscellaneous Licensing team deals with commercial pollution, including noise
  • the Private Sector Safety and HMO Enforcement teams deal with serious housing-related nuisance
  • the Community Response Team deals with domestic noise and low level anti-social behaviour
  • the Anti-Social Behaviour Investigation Team deals with more serious levels of anti-social behaviour.

Outside normal working hours a rota of officers from these teams provides the out of hours noise service.

There are no fixed limits for what noise levels are considered acceptable, meaning the teams need a good understanding of the legal framework around noise nuisance and the ability to make accurate sound measurements.

Want the Council to scrutinise any of its service areas? Now’s your chance

Last week, over 38,000 Oxford residents turned out to elect 24 councillors onto the City Council, which is responsible for delivering a variety of services for the area. Now, the Council’s Scrutiny Committee, which reviews and challenges many of the Council’s decisions and policies, wants to hear from you.

Each year, the Scrutiny Committee forms an annual work plan of issues affecting the city and its residents, and the Committee is welcoming public input into the longlist of items. Issues already featured on the longlist include Air Quality, the impact of the Westgate Shopping Centre and Tourism Management.

The Committee’s role is to prioritise key issues of public interest for review. It carries out a ‘check and balance’ and ‘critical friend’ function to the City Executive Board, which makes the majority of the Council’s key decisions. It can also look at issues outside of the Council’s remit, but it has no powers to investigate external organisations.

The scrutiny function operates to provide public assurance that the Board is carrying out its business effectively, providing value for money and taking the best decisions it can to improve public services and the quality of life for residents. To provide this assurance, the Committee carries out research, reviews and hears from the public, making recommendations for service improvement where necessary.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Chair of the Scrutiny Committee for 2017/18, said: “Suggesting items for the scrutiny work plan is a great way to influence the direction of the Council, both in terms of identifying issues for review and improvement, and providing valuable feedback about the delivery of council services.”

The Committee meets in public at least 10 times each year and is comprised of 12 cross-party councillors who reflect the political make-up of the Council. The membership of the Committee will be formally agreed at a meeting of Full Council on 15 May 2018.

Members of the public can submit an issue for consideration online here. As a guide, issues should be of significant public interest, under the influence of the City Council, and not related to a personal grievance. The long-list of items will be reviewed before publication and considered by the Scrutiny Committee at a public meeting on 5 June 2018.

More information on the work of the Scrutiny Committee can be found here, and the Council’s Scrutiny Officer, Stefan Robinson, can be contacted at mailto:srobinson@oxford.gov.uk

Up and coming events in Oxford in May

  • Saturday 12 May, MOSAIC – Indonesian Cultural Exhibition, Bonn Square, 11 am to 6 pm. Event with lots of hands on experience for visitors related to Indonesia’s diverse and rich culture, such as batik making, wayang making, dance workshops and gamelan. There will also be Indonesian dance, food and more.
  • Sunday 13 May, Town & Gown, city centre, 10 am to 12 pm. Annual 10 km charity road race around the city centre. The race village will be located at University Parks.
  • Sunday 13 May, British Heart Foundation London to Oxford Trek, finishing at Oxpens Rec. 100 km trek, where walkers raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
  • Wednesday 16 May, Human Library, Bonn Square, 4 pm to 6 pm. Part of the Think Human Festival with the theme of revolution. Leading academics from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University will act as human ‘books’ which visitors of all ages will be able to ‘loan’ and engage with, around an aspect of revolution.
  • Friday 18 and Saturday 19 May, Stand for Freedom, Bonn Square, 3 pm to 9 pm (Friday) and 9 am to 3 pm (Saturday). Annual event to raise awareness of Modern Day Slavery.
  • Sunday 20 May, Bike Oxford, route across Oxfordshire and the city, 7.30 am to 5 pm. A day of marked cycle rides of 25, 50 and 80 miles starting and finishing at Oxford University Rugby Club on Iffley Road.
  • Monday 21 May, Sri Chinmoy Races, Cutteslowe Park, 7 pm to 7.30 pm. Annual three mile running race around Peace Mile at Cutteslowe Park.
  • Wednesday 23 May, Wolvercote WW1 Aerodrome Memorial Unveiling, Port Meadow, 2 pm to 2.30 pm. Outdoor ceremony to unveil a new memorial to 17 airmen killed in flying training accidents there during World War One. A rebuilt biplane from the time will be present.
  • Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May, Common People Festival 2018, South Park, 10 am to 11 pm. It’s the third year of Common People in Oxford – a two-day festival created for everyone who wants to listen to music, have fun, eat great food, drink great drinks and play.
  • Saturday 26 May, Oxford Singers Fundraising Event, Bonn Square, 11 am to 4 pm. The Oxford Singers are raising money for the charity Rainbow Trust with their acappella singing.
  • Monday 28 May, Walk the Thames 2018 Fundraising Event, Bonn Square, 9 am to 4.30 pm. Over the course of six days, seven firefighters from Burford Fire Station, Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue service will be walking the length of the Thames Path for 186 miles.

Common People event – noise monitoring in Headington

Following noise complaints last year, one resident has been informed by the City Council:

With regards to monitoring points, we aim to take more measurementsfrom locations that appeared to be particularly affected by low frequency noise from the festival last year which included the Headington area. In terms of the equipment, if I or one of my colleagues could visit you on the Friday evening prior to the start of the festival to install the equipment that would be much appreciated. It will take no more than 15mins or so at the most to set it up and it does not require any interaction at all during the festival as it will be pre-set to log the data we require. We would aim to pick the equipment up on Sunday evening if that is convenient?

Please let us know if you experienced a volume of noise you considered unacceptably high last year and would like monitoring equipment too, and we shall contact the appropriate officer.